The "Free Press," Explained: What It Is and How It Works

Press freedom in the United States and Europe declined over the past year, according to Reporters Without Borders. The organization, which keeps watch on the status of press restrictions around the world, lowered the United States from 43rd to 45th out of 180 countries in its annual World Press Freedom Index this year, stating that President Donald Trump “has fostered further decline in journalists’ right to report.” The organization reported that Europe experienced the sharpest decline in press freedom within the last year, despite what the organization calling it "the region where press freedom is the safest."

Freedom of the press is a guaranteed right under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution — the same one that protects freedom of speech and and the right of people to assemble peacefully and provides the freedom to practice any religion (or none at all). Many countries have their own laws protecting the press, while countries like North Korea have almost complete control over what its citizens read and view. But what exactly is “freedom of the press,” and why is it important for countries to protect the media? We're here to explain everything you need to know.

What is “freedom of the press," and why is it important?

Freedom of the press is similar to free speech. It means that people have the right to give information and express opinions through publication without fear of government censorship, interference, or retribution, such as physical violence or imprisonment. According to a 2017 report from Freedom House, an independent watchdog organization, only 13 percent of the world’s population enjoyed what the organization defines as a free press as of 2017. Norway and North Korea ranked first and last, respectively, in Reporters Without Borders' 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

The First Amendment prevents the American government from passing laws that would threaten this right. The press is often called the fourth branch of government in the U.S. because of the critical role it plays in holding powerful people and institutions accountable. This is only possible because the government is not allowed to censor content.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, freedom of the press is necessary because it “is critical to a democracy in which the government is accountable to the people. A free media functions as a watchdog that can investigate and report on government wrongdoing.”

Are there legal limits to a free press in the U.S.? What about in other countries?

In the United States, the Supreme Court has determined that there are several limits to the freedom of the press. First, the Supreme Court doesn't provide protection for defamation, which includes libel or slander — that is, the injury of an individual’s reputation either through a written publication or spoken word. According to a 2014 report by the Congressional Research Service on the exceptions to the First Amendment, the press also cannot publish obscene content — like child pornography — or anything that would incite immediate violence or unlawful activity.

Journalists regularly cite “anonymous sources” in their reporting because the source of the information has not given approval to reveal their identity, often because doing so would put the individual at risk. Journalists have limits on how much they can legally protect those confidential sources, however. If a source violated federal law in giving the information to the journalist, the reporter can before forced to turn over the name of source or face jail time themselves.

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In some countries, the government closely monitors and restricts the media. In North Korea, the only news source allowed is the government’s Korean Central News Agency, and the government sends people to concentration camps for accessing information from any media outlet based outside the country, according to Reporters Without Borders. The organization also considers Egypt to be "one of the world’s biggest prison for journalists" because of an ongoing government crackdown on the media in which some journalists have been imprisoned for long terms and others even sentenced for life.

Why is press freedom declining in some places, including Europe?

There is a rising hatred of the press in Europe, particularly in the Czech Republic, Malta, Serbia, and Slovakia, according to the 2018 findings from Reporters Without Borders. Leaders in some of these countries are increasingly treating the press as political opponents and enemies, Der Spiegel reported earlier this month. In Hungary, according to the Der Spiegel report, two thirds of all regional newspapers are owned by a close friend of the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán. And the Committee to Project Journalists reported that earlier this year, one of these newspapers published a “blacklist” of journalists that had been critical of the government.

Hatred of the press in Europe has also led to public intimidation, and in some cases, violence. In Malta, a journalist was killed by a car bomb just before she was about to publish a series about government corruption and money laundering. Another journalist in Slovakia investigating tax evasion cases was killed by what the United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe described as an assassination.

In the U.S., is the freedom of the press really at risk?

The Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index noted that hostility toward the media in the U.S. has become “steadily more visible” under the Trump administration, and verbal and physical violence has increased. Some experts, such as Robert Reich, a professor of public policy at University of California, Berkeley, and former secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton, argue that Trump’s severe criticism of the media threatens press freedoms. In a post on his website in December 2016, shortly after Trump was elected, Reich observed that Trump had used four techniques to control the press that tyrannical leaders throughout history have used. First, Trump berates the media and works to turn the public against it by calling journalists “dishonest” or “disgusting” and labeling any reporting he disagrees with “fake news.”

James Kirchick, a journalist and visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, explained in a post earlier this month for Brookings: "'Fake news' — a euphemism really for false information — has existed as long as there has been a news media. What’s changed is how capriciously this accusation is thrown by everyone from the president of the United States on down to describe 'news I don’t like.'”

Reich also noted in his December 2016 post that Trump limits the media’s access. On May 9, on Twitter, Trump threatened to take away press credentials — that is, the ability to report from the White House — because of negative news coverage of him. Further, CBS News noted that Trump has held only a few press briefings and on several occasions, the White House has blocked certain news outlets from press events. These actions can be seen as an effort to control press access — and therefore, citizens’ access — to information.

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In February 2017, Trump declared in a tweet, “The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!” He has also retweeted memes depicting physical violence against CNN.

Finally, Reich noted in his 2016 post that Trump bypasses the media by communicating with the public directly. Through his tweets, Trump is able to pass inaccurate information directly to the public, leaving the media to correct any falsehoods only after the fact.

Regardless of how the White House interacts with the press, Bruce Brown, the executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, wrote an op-ed for Time in February, on the subject of free press. He wrote, “The press is protected by judges and juries, by lawmakers in Congress and in state and local governments, by an independent-minded Justice Department in Washington and by a public that relies on the free flow of news to govern itself in a complex world. Freedom of the press is ours to save, not Trump’s to burn.”